


Chain of Thought

by caramelkaren



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-13
Updated: 2014-08-13
Packaged: 2018-02-13 01:06:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2131323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caramelkaren/pseuds/caramelkaren
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Wash takes off his helmet for once, all Church seems to be able to focus on is him.  But that doesn't mean he's got a crush on the ex-Freelancer, right?  Based off of a prompt post on tumblr.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chain of Thought

**Author's Note:**

> This fic started off because of this post (http://epsilonchurches.tumblr.com/post/94612112990/nonchalantcroissant-au-prompt-person-a-is) and became a sort of life of its own.
> 
> Bold and italics mark Epsilon and Carolina having thought based conversations, because they should be able to hold such a thing right?

It was pretty rare that Wash took off his helmet. Okay, scratch that, he at least took it off before he went to bed, surely. Who the hell would sleep with their helmet on? Then again, weren't there a few memories you'd picked up off Wash that involved him trying to eat with it on? Ha, what a fucking loser.

No, but actually seeing Wash without his helmet on? That's what was rare. It was like his face needed to be kept top secret or something. Wait, no, it was probably his paranoia keeping him fully armored all the time. Even now, when the Red and Blue idiots had stripped most if not all of their armor off, Wash here had only taken off the helmet.

You don't mean to stare at the ex-Freelancer's face, but that's what you're doing. It's not your fault that you're obsessed with taking in information, you're a fucking AI. That's what you do. And this was the person you were assigned to, the one whose head you decided to unravel in. You hadn't had a chance yet to say it, but you feel genuinely bad about it. Under all the snark you dish out at him, you know pretty damn well lies some concern for him. That's why you were looking. That was the only reason.

When did that scar on the left temple get there? That certainly wasn't there before. Must've been fighting without his helmet on at some point, there's no way he could get a scar like that if he was properly armored. Ah, that's probably the source of it all. Maybe he dropped his guard one night and nearly paid the price. Wash is a fucking cockroach though. He wouldn't go out in a fight, no he'd end up dying just because his body couldn't take it anymore. That's if he even could die. The things that man has survived through, being immortal was probably a plausible theory at this point. (Shut up, Delta, I'm fucking joking.)

There were so many facets to compare and contrast from the innocent person Wash used to be. His blond hair had patches of grey growing in, there were bags under his eyes that were probably permanent by this point, more hard edges to the overall shape of his face...There was one feature though that you kept coming back to.

Those freckles.

They were so fitting for the kind of person Wash was in Freelancer. The one who drank things with a swirly straw and panicked over scenarios that were completely out of his comfort zone. They're innocent looking on his face, and it doesn't match up. Okay, so the guy has lightened up since you first saw each other back when you were using an alient artifact for a body. But Wash had completely snapped. He'd become hardened and battle worn and completely weary. Fucking freckles though? They were far too adorable for Wash right now.

Adorable? What are you, a preteen with your first crush? Innocent. Innocent was probably a much better word to use. Adorable...Though looking at his face as a whole, those freckles did add something. Character perhaps? Either way, they were kind of attractive. Could those freckles connect together like constellations in any way? Was there a pattern to be found within those small markings?

Okay, Church, stop it. Connecting freckles? Now you really sound like a lovesick kid. What was next, would you start talking about how his voice is "so to die for?" Well, actually, his voice was pretty pleasant to listen to. And of course it's fucking hilarious when it goes all squeaky when he starts freaking out. "You mean TO TELL ME..."

If you're being honest, you did like to mess with Wash just to get that kind of reaction out of him. Every time you could make him lose his cool, you felt proud of yourself. Job well done, Church. And, okay, maybe some of it was that you want Wash to put his attention all on you for a moment. You weren't in his head for long, and you did pretty much nothing but destroy it, but you felt like maybe a bond between you two had started already. Maybe. As much as you loved Carolina - you thought of her as a sister after all - Wash was the first one. Too bad you'd probably never get a chance to be a badass duo together. Plus, sharing head space with him would only allow you to press more of his buttons. You'd have so much fun...

Wait.

Stop.

Abort your thoughts. Agent Washington himelf is starting right at you. Not around you, not through you.

Right.

At.

You.

If your holographic projection showed a human face instead of a helmet, you'd probably look like you just shit your pants. You weren't in bullet time, you knew that, but Wash was fucking looking at you for so long it felt like it could be.

Fuck, he can read your thoughts, can't he? Fuck, fuck, fuck, he heard everything and probably wants to kill you for thinking about his freckles and wanting to be in his head.

He finally looked away, and you felt like you could breathe again even though you don't breathe. Quick, you gotta come up with something to test it, make sure it wasn't just some strange coincidence.

**Wash, if you can hear me, cough.**

Son of a bitch, he's having a coughing fit.

Well, this is just fucking great. You let yourself get too bored and wander into terrible thoughts, ones you didn't want to be thinking in the first place, and now he knows about them. Now he knows you find his freckles adorable and his voice to sound nice enough that you're curious about his orgasm noises. Wait, no, no, you just think you think that. You don't really give a fuck, do you?

_Epsilon._

Uh oh.

_You're not doing a pretty good job of keeping your thoughts private from me, you know that?_

**Carolina, I -**

_If you were actually paying attention to the conversation instead of developing a crush, you'd know he was actually starting to choke on his snack after Donut let lose a pretty vulgar innuendo._

**Oh. Of course.**

Wait.

**A crush?**

_I know those trains of thought, Epsilon. You've got it bad._

**Yeah, me, "got it bad" for Wash, yeah. That's accurate.**

Not.

_Whatever you say. At least now if you're refusing to cooperate, I can always threaten you with telling him how you feel._

**Heh, like I care. I don't feel anything, you'd just be spreading lies.**

_Oh? So I could just tell him right now?_

**What?**

"Hey, Wash."

**Carolina, no. Don't you fucking dare. He doesn't need to know.**

"Yeah?" Wash responded.

**Carolina, I'm begging you.**

"Are you okay over there?"

"I'm fine now. Donut, please, think about what you're saying before you say it."

_Now, tell me. Why would it matter if Wash finds out if you don't really have a crush on him?_

**I hate you.**

Because dammit, she was right. Son of a bitch.


End file.
